Central to the study of ‘armed forces and society’, whether the approach be that of sociology, political science or legal doctrine, is the question of how unique the military really is—and ought to be. Over the last four decades or so, a number of authors have evinced keen interest in, and written more or less extensively on such matters as the objective, normative and subjective dimensions of military life, functional, structural and cultural features of military organization, civil-military relations, and the patterns of long-term change affecting them.

Les affaires musicales ont été, en Chine ancienne, plus qu'une simple expression artistique destinée à amuser. Liée aux rites, la Musique présidait au bon fonctionnement du gouvernement et engageait la personne impériale.

Changes in labour market conditions over the last ten years have led to renewed speculation about the future of collectivist attitudes. In Britain, the most striking change has been the sharp rise in the level of unemployment which doubled between 1979 and 1981. However, many commentators have also suggested that profound changes are occurring in the character of employment, in particular through the rise of more precarious types of work. On one estimate, fully a third of British employees could now be considered part of the ‘flexible’ workforce (Hakim 1987). Overall, there has been an increase in the level of insecurity and a marked accentuation of financial inequality.

This paper is a plea for the study of ‘local justice’, i.e. the allocation by institutions of scarce goods and necessary burdens. It is largely programmatic, with few new findings to report. Later, case studies which are currently being carried out in West Germany, France, Norway and the United States will provide answers to some of the questions raised below.

La procréation médicalement assistée (PMA) est un domaine en expansion retardée. La pression sociale est forte pour empêcher toute la demande potentielle de s'exprimer. Quand elle s'exprime, une partie seulement est entendue, au nom de principes éthiques. Enfin, certaines ressources essentielles sont artificiellement raréfiées : les paillettes de sperme, nécessaires dans les inséminations avec un donneur autre que le conjoint.

1. What are the norms of distributive justice to be found in contemporary families? Do they vary according to the socioeconomic status of the spouses, and according to the type of family cohesion? These are the two questions addressed in this article, in which an exploratory study of 107 families is used (Kellerhals et al. 1986) to advance some elements of response.